Device for camouflaging an object

ABSTRACT

A device can be used for camouflaging an object or person or the like, comprising at least one net or at least one tarpaulin having rectilinear side edges in each case, which has a camouflage pattern which consists of a plurality of individual patches of different colors. The side edges of a plurality of the patches are to a large extent composed of at least approximately rectilinear sections. A number of the rectilinear sections being aligned at least approximately parallel to the side edges of the net or the tarpaulin.

[0001] The invention relates to a device for camouflaging an object, a person or the like, in the manner defined in more detail in the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Camouflage tarpaulins and camouflage nets are generally known from the area of military engineering. In addition to three-dimensional camouflage nets, that is to say camouflage nets which have appropriate elements projecting beyond the actual surface of the net or the tarpaulin, camouflage nets are also known which achieve their camouflaging effect merely by means of a camouflage pattern printed on a flat surface.

[0003] In this case, the three-dimensional camouflage nets have their advantages in the better camouflaging effect and in the very good ability of individual nets to be attached to form a large assembled net, since the projecting camouflage elements hide the attachment seams or edges relatively well. However, the projecting camouflage elements of the individual nets make the latter very difficult to handle, since they firstly take up a great deal of space, even when folded up, and since secondly the camouflage elements can tear off very easily.

[0004] The camouflage which are only printed and are generally referred to as two-dimensional provide considerable advantageous here in terms of handling, since they avoid the disadvantages mentioned above. However, the visual camouflaging effect originating from them is not as good as in the case of the three-dimensional camouflage nets.

[0005] These camouflage patterns are generally designed in such a way that they make the contours of the object to be camouflaged by the camouflage tarpaulin dissolve and merge into the surroundings. For this purpose, these camouflage nets generally have patches of various colors which, depending on the surroundings in which the camouflage net or the camouflage tarpaulin is used, exhibit different color configurations.

[0006] Here, these patches are of different size, depending on the size of the net.

[0007] In the case of small nets for persons, cars, etc., small patches dominate more and, at their edges, have shapes which are generally round and adapted from nature, in order to appear as little striking as possible as compared with nature. In addition, nature itself uses such round, small-area camouflage elements in the case of relatively small animals, as is known, for example, from leopards, cheetahs or the like. On the other hand, the large camouflage nets for trucks, tanks or the like exhibit the corresponding pattern in enlarged form, in order to be able to visually dissolve even the large contours. As an example from nature, mention can be made here of the giraffe, whose patch pattern is very large, in accordance with its body size.

[0008] However, devices of this type for camouflaging an object have the disadvantage that the camouflage nets or camouflage tarpaulins have to be produced and printed completely in the desired size, since cut edges or seams, because they bound the individual patches rectilinearly, would be extremely striking and would critically reduce the camouflaging effect.

[0009] By means of appropriate shaping of the edge regions, specially in such a way that these fit one another, this can nevertheless be made possible to a limited extent, but it is only possible for similarly printed, that is to say generally equally sized, camouflage nets to be combined with one another at the side edges provided for the purpose. This again leads to serious disadvantages with regard to handling and expenditure on time when constructing the camouflaging.

[0010] It is the object of the present invention to provide a device for camouflaging an object, a person or the like which, with the possibility of good handling, is able to develop an ideal camouflaging effect and which, moreover, permits a plurality of camouflage tarpaulins, if appropriate even different camouflage tarpaulins, to be assembled in any desired way without difficulty to form a large camouflage cover.

[0011] According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features cited in the characterizing part of claim 1.

[0012] As a result of the boundaries, composed of rectilinear sections, of a plurality of the individual patches and the corresponding number of rectilinear sections, which run at least approximately parallel to the side edges of the tarpaulins, a combination of the tarpaulins or nets with one another becomes very easily possible. This is because during assembly the rectilinear side edges produced by the boundary of the tarpaulin or the net are not revealed or only to a minimum extent, since the net intrinsically has a comparatively large number of rectilinear side edges in any case, of which in turn a relatively large proportion run at least approximately parallel to the side edges of the net or the tarpaulin.

[0013] A camouflage cover assembled from a plurality of these individual webs, the repeats, as they are known, will therefore achieve a comparable camouflaging effect to that of each of the individual webs. It is therefore possible, by using a repeat which is small, simple to produce and easy to print and which can also be carried very easily in military vehicles or the like, to form a large camouflage net or a large camouflage cover as required by joining a plurality of these repeats, which can then even hide a plurality of vehicles, objects, persons or the like under itself.

[0014] In a particularly beneficial embodiment of the invention, a plurality of the tarpaulins are assembled to form the camouflage cover already mentioned, the tarpaulins or the nets to some extent also being rotated through 180° with respect to each other, whilst maintaining their visible surface so that the corresponding camouflage patterns do not repeat at very short intervals.

[0015] In a further very beneficial embodiment, the sizes of the individual patches additionally vary very greatly among themselves.

[0016] The camouflaging effect to be achieved is therefore approximately optimized in an advantageous way, irrespective of the size of the object or the like to be camouflaged. The different sizes of the patches, that is to say their two-dimensional content, vary very considerably in this case, so that it is entirely possible for factors of the order of magnitude of 50-250 to exist between the two-dimensional contents of the larger and the smaller patches.

[0017] The device very advantageously permits the camouflaging effect of a three-dimensional camouflage net to be achieved with a two-dimensional camouflage tarpaulin in the configuration according to the invention. The advantages with regard to the handling of the two-dimensional tarpaulin nets are therefore achieved together with the advantages with regard to the camouflage effect comparable with that of the three-dimensional camouflage net.

[0018] The ability of the individual camouflage tarpaulins to be assembled with any desired alignment and at any desired edges or edge sections without difficulty in this case, apart from the handling advantages, also makes advantages possible in production. For example, it is sufficient to print a comparatively small repeat, in particular in the configuration with patches which are very different in terms of their size since this repeat can then be sewed together without difficulty to form camouflage covers of any desired size. The advantages which result from this with regard to the required machines, logistics and the like are obvious.

[0019] In this case, the known and conventional color configurations, for example for forest, desert and snow landscapes, with regard to the colors and their two-dimensional proportions, can be maintained; by contrast, only the configuration of the individual patches and, if necessary, their size is varied in accordance with the invention.

[0020] Further advantageous refinements of the invention emerge from the further subclaims and the exemplary embodiments illustrated below by using the drawings.

[0021]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary camouflage tarpaulin according to the invention;

[0022]FIG. 2 shows the combination of two of the tarpaulins according to FIG. 1 to form a camouflage cover;

[0023]FIG. 3 shows an exemplary camouflage tarpaulin according to the invention in an alternative embodiment; and

[0024]FIG. 4 shows the combination of two of the tarpaulins according to FIG. 3 to form a camouflage cover.

[0025]FIG. 1 shows a tarpaulin or a net, a repeat 1, as it is known, with an appropriate camouflage design, which is designed for example in the form of patches 2 printed onto the repeat 1. Here, a plurality of the patches 2 has side edges 3 which, to a great extent, are composed of at least approximately rectilinear sections. A large number of rectilinear sections is formed at least approximately parallel to the side edges 4, 5 of the repeat 1. In order to obtain the most ideal camouflaging effect, this number should if possible comprise more than half the rectilinear sections.

[0026]FIG. 2 then shows how a plurality of the repeats 1, here two of the repeats 1, are assembled to form a camouflage cover 6. In this case, the two repeats 1 are connected to each other along their one side edge 4, it being possible for this to be done directly by sewing the repeats 1 together to form a camouflage cover 6. As an alternative to this, however, it is also possible for this joining of the individual repeats to form a larger camouflage cover 6 to be carried out on site during the construction of the camouflage. Because of the side edges 3 of individual patches, which to a large extent run parallel to the side edges 4, 5 of the repeats, a seam 7 between the individual repeats 1 can then barely be detected.

[0027] In the illustration selected here in FIG. 2, the two repeats 1 have been placed identically beside each other and connected in the area of the seam 7. This permits very quick and very simple processing of the individual repeats 1 to form a large camouflage cover 6. Of course, the construction of the camouflage cover 6 can comprise a plurality of the individual repeats 1. Practical sizes are, for example, between two and six to eight individual repeats 1 per camouflage cover 6.

[0028]FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative design variant which has a somewhat more differentiated patch pattern but which meets the same requirements with regard to its side edges 3 of the patches 2 as discussed above. In this case, the repeat 1, just like the repeats 1 in the preceding figures, is designed with a side ratio of 1:3 and can be produced, for example, in a size of about 1.5 m×4.5 m. This size permits very beneficial processing on conventional textile processing machines.

[0029]FIG. 4 then shows a combination of two repeats 1 according to FIG. 3 to form a camouflage cover 6. In order to increase the camouflage action still further and to hide the position of the seam 7 still better, one of the repeats 1 has been rotated through an angle, here through 180° for example, with respect to the other of the repeats 1, before the side edges 4 of the repeats 1 have been assembled in the area of the seam 7.

[0030] In this case, the pattern of the overall camouflage cover 6 becomes still more non-uniform as compared with the pattern illustrated in FIG. 2, and the camouflage action is increased further. In this case, it is of course also possible to rotate one of the repeats 1 through 90°, for example, in order to reinforce the effect further.

[0031] In principle, apart from the rectangular camouflage covers 6 illustrated here, other types of shapes of the camouflage covers 6 are also conceivable. Particularly highly suitable in this case is a hexagonal blank for the camouflage cover 6 (not illustrated), since hexagonal camouflage covers 6 of this type can be joined very easily in the manner of honeycombs to form a continuous camouflage means of approximately any desired size. In this case, of course, the angles by which the individual camouflage covers 6 can be rotated before being assembled naturally match one another.

[0032] In particular, it can then be expedient, during the construction of a large camouflage cover 6 which, for example, consists of six or eight repeats 1, or a large camouflage means which consists of a plurality of the camouflage covers 6, to use a combination of repeats 1 or camouflage covers 6 which are identical and rotated before being joined, in order to achieve the most ideal visual camouflaging effect. However, it is true of all the camouflage covers 6 or camouflaging means that the position of the seam 7 in or between the camouflage covers 6 virtually vanishes in visual terms, so that, by using very simple means, in a quick and cost-effective manner, a very large camouflage cover 6 or camouflaging means can be produced from a large number of individual identical repeats 1 or camouflage covers 6. 

1. A device for camouflaging an object or person or the like, comprising at least one net or at least one tarpaulin having rectilinear side edges in each case, which has a camouflage pattern which consists of a plurality of individual patches of different colors, wherein the side edges of a plurality of the patches are to a large extent composed of at least approximately rectilinear sections, a number of the rectilinear sections being aligned at least approximately parallel to the side edges of the net or the tarpaulin.
 2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the individual patches are designed very differently with regard to their two-dimensional content.
 3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of the nets or the tarpaulins are assembled to form a camouflage cover.
 4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein at least one of the nets or the tarpaulins in the camouflage cover is rotated through an angle with respect to the other nets or tarpaulins.
 5. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of rectilinear sections which are aligned at least approximately parallel to the side edges of the net or the tarpaulin comprises more than half the rectilinear sections that are present.
 6. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the nets or tarpaulins are of rectangular design and have a ratio between their side edges of 1:3.
 7. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the camouflage covers are each of hexagonal design. 